Source: ES21AC Midterm Essay, Prof Victoria Robinson, UC Berkeley
Tags: justice, equality, restorative justice, rehabilitative justice, punitive justice, John Rawls, prison industrial complex, PIC, prison abolition, white supremacy, orientalism, virtual internment, three pillars of racism, Andrea Smith, Hatem Bazian, greater good, racial inequality
Justice, in the context of ES21AC, is defined as having two prongs: equality (fair treatment regardless of race, nationality, ethnicity, or class) and restoration (rehabilitative rather than punitive). John Rawls' theory of justice supports this by rejecting the idea that the loss of freedom for some can be justified by benefits to others. Course readings on white supremacy, orientalism, and virtual internment show how the U.S. has historically violated both prongs.
Justice (two-pronged definition)
Equality in the treatment of all people regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic class, combined with a restorative and rehabilitative approach rather than a punitive one.
Restorative justice
A justice framework that promotes healthy communities and works toward eliminating the prison industrial complex, rather than caging and isolating people from their communities.
Punitive justice
A justice approach focused on punishment and incarceration. In this course's framing, punitive justice perpetuates the PIC and is incompatible with true justice in a racist system.
Prison Industrial Complex (PIC)
The overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as responses to social, political, and economic problems. Extends beyond physical prisons into parole, probation, and community control.
Recidivism
The tendency for convicted individuals to re-offend. The essay argues that recidivism is high precisely because the system hinders reintegration into society, trapping people in the PIC cycle.
John Rawls' theory of justice
Justice is not the net balance of distributed goods and freedoms, but a genuinely equal distribution of rights. Rawls rejects the idea that compensating one group at the expense of another constitutes justice.
"The loss of freedoms for some is made right by a greater good shared by others"
A Rawlsian formulation used in the essay to critique the U.S. government's historical justification for oppressing minority groups in the name of national interest or social benefit.
Orientalism (Andrea Smith's framing)
One of the three pillars of white supremacy. The belief in Asian and Middle Eastern inferiority and threat to Western values, used to justify exclusion, surveillance, and internment.
Three Pillars of White Supremacy (Andrea Smith)
A framework from "Heteropatriarchy and the 3 Pillars of Racism." The pillar of orientalism is emphasised in this essay as the logic behind anti-Asian and anti-Muslim policies.
Virtual internment (Hatem Bazian)
The extension of physical internment into a global, undocumented system of surveillance and control targeting Arabs, Muslims, and Asian Americans, especially post-9/11. Designed to induce a mental state of control rather than requiring physical confinement.
Natal alienation
The severing of a person from their family, community, culture, and roots. Used in the essay to describe the effects of incarceration and the broader PIC on individuals, particularly people of colour.
Executive Order 9066
The 1942 order authorising the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. Bazian's work shows that arrests of German, Italian, and Japanese individuals were already occurring before the formal order.
The essay's definition of justice has two prongs: equality and restoration
Rawls converges with the first prong: justice means genuinely equal distribution of rights, not merely "balanced scales"
Conferring benefits on one group to compensate a disadvantaged group does not constitute justice
No factor (race, nationality, class) justifies denying one group resources provided to another
Rawls' framework is used to critique "greater good" arguments throughout the essay
The government has historically rationalised actions against minority groups by claiming they serve the greater good
Rawls would reject these justifications: justice cannot accept that the loss of freedom for some is made right by benefits to others
Punitive justice in a racist system is inherently unjust
The system disproportionately targets Black and Brown people through mass surveillance, police presence in schools, "driving while Black or Brown," and the war on drugs
White bodies are coded as pure and incapable of harm, while people of colour are targeted without substantive evidence
Restorative justice promotes healthy communities and works toward eliminating the PIC
Recidivism is high because the system actively hinders reintegration
Justice should mean people are not caged and isolated, during or after imprisonment (parole, probation)
Andrea Smith's "Heteropatriarchy and the 3 Pillars of Racism" shows justice has repeatedly been claimed through "compensation" rather than genuine equality
The pillar of orientalism frames Asian and Middle Eastern people as inferior and threatening to Western values
Anti-immigrant movements: prevention of naturalisation, exclusion acts
Wartime perception as "foreign threats": Japanese internment (E.O. 9066), profiling of Muslims and Arabs
These actions are rationalised as strengthening and empowering the West
Hatem Bazian's "Virtual Internment: Arabs, Muslims, Asians and the War on Terror" links injustice to virtual internment as an extension of the PIC and the legacy of slavery
Even before E.O. 9066 (1942–1946), authorities were already arresting people of German, Italian, and Japanese ancestry, supported by the public, politicians, Hollywood, and the judiciary
After 9/11 (2001), targeting of Arabs and Muslims became overt, justified by national security
Virtual internment is undocumented, global, and designed to produce a mental state of control
Bazian's work shows this system remains active in the present day
"The Treadmill of Destruction: National Sacrifice Areas and Native Americans" demonstrates how Indian land exploitation was justified as necessary for national defence
The military industrial complex took Native land from 1916 to the end of WWII (1945), rendering it environmentally toxic
Land set aside for Native peoples was remote, arid, and the least desirable
The losses of land and resources could not be offset by the "greater good" of the U.S. military
This is a direct example of Rawls' critique: justice is not served when one group's losses are dismissed because another group benefits
⚠️ Rawls' definition is the analytical backbone of Part A. Be able to explain how the "greater good" argument fails under his framework and connect it to specific historical examples.
⚠️ The two-pronged definition (equality + restoration) is the essay's organising thesis. Know how each prong maps to course readings.
⚠️ Virtual internment (Bazian) extends the PIC beyond physical walls. This concept bridges Part A and Part B of the midterm.
⚠️ Andrea Smith's three pillars framework is used selectively here. The focus is on orientalism as the logic behind anti-Asian and anti-Muslim policy, not all three pillars equally.
⚠️ Common mix-up: Rawls does not argue against helping disadvantaged groups. He argues that justice cannot be achieved by trading one group's freedoms for another's benefit.
Q: What are the two prongs of the essay's working definition of justice?
A: First, equality: the fair treatment of all people regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic class. Second, restoration: justice should be rehabilitative rather than punitive, promoting healthy communities rather than caging and isolating people.
Q: How does John Rawls' idea of justice converge with and depart from the essay's definition?
A: Rawls converges on equality, arguing that justice requires genuinely equal distribution of rights, not just "balanced scales." He departs by not explicitly addressing restorative justice, though his rejection of "greater good" trade-offs implicitly supports it.
Q: What is virtual internment, and how does Bazian connect it to the PIC?
A: Virtual internment is a global, undocumented system of surveillance and control targeting Arabs, Muslims, and Asian Americans, especially after 9/11. Bazian frames it as an extension of both the PIC and the legacy of slavery, designed to produce a mental state of control without physical confinement.
Q: How does Andrea Smith's pillar of orientalism relate to anti-Asian and anti-Muslim policy in the U.S.?
A: Orientalism frames Asian and Middle Eastern people as inferior and threatening to Western values. This logic justified exclusion acts, denial of naturalisation, Japanese internment (E.O. 9066), and post-9/11 profiling, all rationalised as protecting the West.
Q: Why does the essay argue that punitive justice is incompatible with a racist system?
A: Because the system disproportionately targets Black and Brown people through biased policing, mass surveillance, and racially coded assumptions. Enforcing punishment within a structurally racist system reinforces racial inequality rather than delivering justice.
Justice, equality, restorative justice, rehabilitative justice, punitive justice, John Rawls, prison industrial complex, PIC, prison abolition, recidivism, white supremacy, orientalism, three pillars of racism, heteropatriarchy, Andrea Smith, Hatem Bazian, virtual internment, natal alienation, social death, Executive Order 9066, Japanese internment, war on drugs, driving while Black, mass surveillance, greater good, national sacrifice areas, Hooks and Smith, military industrial complex, Native American land exploitation, anti-immigrant policy, exclusion acts, ES21AC, UC Berkeley, Prof Victoria Robinson